


Save Your Heart

by Luka z Rivii (wayward_dream)



Category: The Witcher (TV)
Genre: ASL, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Deaf!Reader, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Near Drowning, Sign Language, geralt is in trouble and needs saving, near-drowning, spellbound!geralt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:28:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23440936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wayward_dream/pseuds/Luka%20z%20Rivii
Summary: You almost lose Geralt when he breaks a promise and goes hunting a siren.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Reader
Kudos: 81





	Save Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Bolded italics means it's being said in sign language, and the one scene {in brackets} near the beginning is a flashback :) Again, I'm using my knowledge of ASL for the signs described, so hopefully they make sense

The bed was cold when you woke up, which told you that you were alone and had been for a while. Dragging your eyes open, you peered blearily around the room as you sat up, squinting in the midmorning light for traces of Geralt.

His travel bag was still in the corner, but his shoes were gone, as were his swords. He must have slipped out to go work that contract after all.

**_{{People are dying, dove. This is my job._ **

**_It’s too dangerous. It’s killed so many people, who are far more familiar with the sea and its dangers than you. Swear to me you won’t go after this creature._ **

**_It’s a siren. Alone, separated from her flock. An easy job–_ **

**_Then someone else can do it. Geralt, promise me. Please._ **

_Amber eyes studied you, expression unreadable. A deep sigh. **Alright. I promise.**_

_You sagged in relief. **Thank you.}}**_

And then the two of you had gone to bed….and you’d woken up alone. _Damn him._ Throwing the covers off, you felt your face twist into a scowl as you quickly got dressed.

_If he thinks he can just lie to my face and leave me behind, he’s got another thing coming,_ you thought to yourself as you yanked on your shoes and threw the door open. A siren, he’d said. You knew its hunting grounds because that’s where the bodies had all been found, and that meant you knew where to find Geralt.

* * *

Finding the beach was easy. Finding the part of it where Geralt was fighting the siren took longer, and they were in the middle of a deadly dance when you spotted them. You crouched down behind a cluster of rocks, not so reckless as to charge in. it would only distract Geralt and get him hurt, but as you watched the siren leap at him you felt your heartbeat stutter, your stomach twisting with anxiety.

You shouldn’t have worried. Geralt neatly ducked and rolled under the siren, slashing its wing while he was behind it so it would be stuck on the ground. The air crackled with energy as the siren threw its head back and wailed; you may not have been able to hear it, but you saw the rage in the creature’s face as it twisted to face Geralt; he wasn’t quite nimble enough to dodge the lash of its tail, the curved fin tearing through his armor and leaving a shallow gash on his arm that began to sluggishly ooze blackened blood.

You felt panic bubble up in you, seeing him injured, and you desperately wondered if there was any way that you could help.

The siren suddenly turned, fleeing for the water, and your heart froze as Geralt chased it into the surf. The creature had barely made it to the water before Geralt leapt, landing astride its back and rolling so the two of them tumbled in in the shallow surf.

Without consciously deciding to move you found yourself on your feet, heedless of the rocks scraping your hands as you scrambled over them, desperate to do anything that you could.

You knew the exact moment that Geralt registered your presence. He had the creature pinned under him and had his silver sword poised to strike when his head snapped up, golden eyes fixed on you. He looked horrified, angry, and he shouted something at you. You were too far away, you couldn’t read his lips, but you were sure of what he was trying to tell you: _stay away, go home._ You froze in your tracks and your indecision and his distraction cost him dearly.

A powerful wave crashed over Geralt and the siren and your heart froze. Geralt emerged, spitting out water and shaking himself. He pinned you with a glare before spinning, staggering slightly in the wet sand, to face the siren.

It rose up out of the water, balancing on its tail like a snake poised to strike, predatory gaze fixed on the witcher. Even from where you stood in relative safety you saw the malice glinting in her eyes.

You felt the very air hum as the siren sang and as you watched Geralt go still in the act of raising his sword, and you knew something had gone very wrong. His movements were no longer fluid, he was stiff and jerky and he was never this slow. A swipe of its tail sent the sword spinning out of his hand, crashing several feet away with a spray of sand. Then it lunged at Geralt, flattening him with an ease that he would never allow. You stumbled through the sand and grabbed Geralt’s sword – _god it was heavy, how did he manage to swing it around with such poise?_ – and hefted it as much as you were able.

Your heart went cold when you spun to see the siren shredding through Geralt’s armor, leaving deep gouges in his skin and spraying its face and body with spatters of black blood.

The silver sword carved a trail through the sand as you dragged it, tripping through the damp shore. You took a deep breath and when you were near enough, you hefted the sword and felt a cry wrenched from your throat as you swung it, only managing a glancing glow to the siren’s arm.

At the very least, it got the siren to shift its attention to you. It screeched and you felt pressure around your ears, the air vibrating. You thought of your anger when you woke up without Geralt that morning, the fear of seeing the siren attack him, and your throat ached as you released a yell and swung the sword, slashing at the siren as it lunged at you, managing to get a deep slice across its torso. You saw it peel back its lips to hiss at you before it turned away, trying to flee towards the water.

You suddenly felt _power_ blast past you, making you stagger and sending the siren sprawling in the sand. Flickering a glance at Geralt, you saw him dazedly watching the siren, his hand held up with his fingers twisted into one of the signs that you knew he used to channel his witcher abilities. His hand flopped down and you swallowed hard, but you needed to finish this before checking on him. You rushed over to the siren, which was still other than a few involuntary spasms.

Taking a deep breath, you raised the sword and put your whole body into a powerful downward thrust, piercing the siren’s back. It spasmed and thrashed, clawing at the sand, and you caught a few lashes from its tail but you barely noticed, putting all your weight on the sword until it pierced through the siren’s ribs and sank into the sand under its body. A few final spasms shook the siren’s frame and you felt your skull buzz as it gave a dying shriek before going limp, its tail curling around its body as though to protect it while it heaved a few final breaths.

You panted as you stared down at the siren, feeling woozy. You’d never killed anything before. Looking at the monster that had claimed so many lives, you weren’t sure how to react. You weren’t sure how Geralt did this.

_Geralt._

Abandoning the sword and the siren, you spun and lurched over to Geralt, slipping and nearly falling several times before dropping to your knees at his side. Blood – his and the siren’s – were drying viscous on his skin, but the wounds he’d sustained were already scabbing over and you sobbed out a relieved breath.

He slowly sat up, not looking at you. You shoved his shoulder angrily and his head snapped towards you, the motion jerky and stiff. Glaring, you jabbed him in the chest with a finger before swiping your hand, fingers together and bent at a 90 degree angle, across your chin and then pointing at your own chest. **_You lied to me._** Your hands were jerky, agitated, and you had to focus on not signing too quickly, knowing he was still learning and not as fluent as you were. You scowled at him with teary eyes, waiting for an answer.

Black eyes stared vacantly at you, _through_ you, and Geralt didn’t answer you as he slowly came to his feet.

**_Geralt? Geralt, stop._** One hand flat, you brought your other hand down on your open palm in a chopping motion and still he didn’t acknowledge you. His shoulder bumped yours roughly as he walked past you, and you felt chills break out over your skin as you watched him walk purposefully for the water.

You scrambled after him, grabbing onto his arm and digging your heels in, but he was stronger than you and it was hard to get traction on the sand; he was just dragging you along with him.

You moved in front of him, planted your hands on his chest and shoved, trying to push him back but he was relentless, not even reacting when your palm struck his face. You were unsure what to do, but the blankness hiding behind his eyes terrified you.

He blinked slowly and looked at you, dark eyes focusing a bit but still hazy as they gazed at you. _**Geralt?**_ You touched his cheek where you’d struck him, wincing and signing with your free hand. _**Love, are you back with me?**_ You noticed absently that your hands were shaking, and then became aware that you were feeling jittery, knees weak.

Geralt still didn’t respond to you, his gaze sliding away from yours to fix on the ocean and then there was such _longing_ and _despair_ on his face that it terrified you. He looked like a man standing on the edge of a cliff, prepared to jump, and as he surged forward you latched onto him, knowing you weren’t strong enough to stop him but not about to let him go.

He didn’t even seem to notice bearing your weight in his rush for the water, long strides devouring the distance in far less time than you were happy with. You tried waving a hand in front of his face, hitting his chest, pulling his hair, nothing seemed able to pull him out of his trance.

Then there was water, bitingly cold and surging over you in the wave that dragged both of you under. The cold stole your breath and you clung to Geralt, certain that if you allowed him to slip from your grasp now you would never get him back.

Everything was dim under the water and your eyes burned but you forced them open. Geralt’s hair floated around him like a silvery halo, his pale skin making him look ghostly in the murky depths. He seemed serene, just floating there, and your lungs were screaming and your heart was thudding and you were starting to feel awful cramps in your muscles but you wouldn’t leave him, you couldn’t.

You grabbed onto him and tried to kick for the surface and _then_ he came to life, fighting you, dragging himself the opposite way, deeper, further down, and you grabbed on and went with him, determined to save him.

Or at the very least, to not let him die alone.

Your vision was swarming with spots and you knew you didn’t have much longer. Your fingers fumbled until they found Geralt’s face, features as familiar under your fingers as your own when you looked in the mirror. You couldn’t see but you could feel his gaze on you, sense his attention, and you finger spelled slowly with one hand, unwilling to stop touching him in your final moments. _**I love you.**_

You took his face in your hands, wanting one last kiss before you died. You despaired at how still and cold his lips were underneath yours, and you closed your eyes, unable to bear another moment of this seemingly endless darkness claiming you both. You felt cold water slip past your lips and your chest spasmed as icy liquid filled your lungs; as your consciousness rapidly began to fade you felt callused fingers slipping on your skin. You saw a flash of light through your closed eyelids and forced them open; you must have been hallucinating from lack of oxygen because it looked like there were small flames dwindling in the water. Suddenly you were jerked, being dragged, and you tried to struggle thinking it was someone pulling you away from Geralt, but you were too far gone, too weak. Bubbles slipped past your mouth, more liquid filled your lungs and you had just enough time to think _**I’m dying. I failed. I’m so sorry**_ before everything went black.

* * *

The next thing you were aware of were large hands pressing painfully down on your chest. You’d barely roused to consciousness before you were heaving, rolling onto your hands and knees as water surged up your throat and it felt like you vomited up gallons onto the sand. You retched and spat, struggling to catch your breath, chest burning and stomach churning.

The moment you settled, breaths starting to even out, you were wrenched into a crushing embrace. You instinctively fought against the hold, disoriented and dazed, until you recognized the black clothing and silver hair, and the familiar large hands clutching you tightly. _Geralt._ You relaxed and sighed deeply, returning the hug fiercely and tangling your fingers in his hair, burying your face against his shoulder.

You weren’t sure how long the two of you sat there, clutching each other silently, the relief and joy of seeing him alive and the dazed feeling of having almost drowned making the moments blur together incomprehensibly.

You weren’t expecting him to look so enraged when he finally pulled back to look at you. His fingers dug painfully into your shoulders and he said something but he was talking too fast; you shook your head, not understanding, and you saw his shoulders move as he exhaled sharply, felt his breath hit your face. His lips pinched, brows furrowing in frustration as he scowled.

You ducked your head and pulled away, hugging yourself as you averted your eyes. It wasn’t the first time you’d had an issue with communication, and you were painfully aware of your own shortcomings.

Geralt had just….never seemed to mind before now. It stung, and you felt your eyes burning but you set your jaw, refusing to shed any tears.

As you stared down at your feet you became aware that you were violently shuddering, your teeth clicking together as they chattered. Geralt waved a hand to get your attention and when you reluctantly met his narrowed eyes, he made a sharp gesture that you knew meant stay there before getting to his feet and turning away. You didn’t understand why he was being so brusque, and you felt tears welling up again as he stalked off.

You scrubbed your fist against your eyes before hugging your knees to your chest and resting your head on them. You knew it was dangerous to ignore your surroundings, to leave yourself so vulnerable when out in the open like this, but even angry with you, you trusted Geralt to not let anything hurt you, and you were exhausted and aching and cold.

Time ticked by agonizingly slow and you just hugged yourself tighter until in your periphery you saw a flare of light. Lifting your head blearily, you saw that Geralt had returned with Roach and was now crouched by you, starting a fire. You hadn’t felt the vibrations of their approaching steps through the sand and he was watching you unhappily.

He’d changed out of his wet armor into a dry cotton shirt that hung loose on his muscular frame, and black trousers. He took his cloak from where it was draped over Roach’s saddle and wrapped it around you like a blanket before gathering you into his arms and pulling you onto his lap.

You went stiffly, reluctant but not unwilling, especially when he radiated heat like a furnace and you still felt like the ocean had you in its icy grip. You curled up in his embrace, tucking your face into his neck where you could feel the slow, steady thud of his pulse against your lips. You felt his nose brush through your hair, his arms around you tight, and you sighed deeply, letting your eyes flutter shut. You were so….tired.

Behind your closed eyelids you were aware of the flickering light of the fire, and you warmed up fairly quickly pressed close to Geralt even though your clothes were still damp and rough grains of salt scraped your skin. Geralt’s fingers slid through your hair, catching on the tangled strands a few times and gently smoothing past the knots with care before coming to rest on your shoulder, tapping gently. A request.

Reluctantly, you opened your eyes and sat up enough to face him.

_**What the fuck were you thinking, dove? **_he demanded. For all the crass words and the rigid motions of his hands, the use of the pet name sent your heart fluttering as you watched him fingerspell it. You simply raised an eyebrow and made a rolling ‘go on’ gesture with your hand, wanting him to elaborate.

**_You shouldn’t have come after me. You could have died,_** he signed at you, hands stiff and rigid (he always signed like that when he was struggling to control his temper). His eyes – familiar amber now – were burning with rage, his lips twisted in what you could only describe as a snarl.

You glared defiantly up at him. _**You would be dead if I hadn’t.**_ You pushed on his chest, squirming until he let you go and you slid off of his lap to sit on the sand a foot away. The distance made you feel cold, and not just physically, but you were angry too. You lied to me. _**You promised–**_

**_People were dying!_** he interrupted, eyes flashing. **_This is what I do._**

**_I know that!_** Exasperated, you threw your hands up in the air. **_Just because I can’t hear doesn’t mean I don’t know things. I know what you are, I know who you are. But that doesn’t mean I’m not afraid, every time you walk out the door to chase your next hunt, that you’ll never come back to me, either because you finally met your demise or because you found someone …. better._** You knew you were signing too fast, some of your motions blurring together with how quickly you were trying to get the words out, but you couldn’t help it.

Geralt stared at you. _**Sign that again. Slower, so I can be sure I understand.**_ His jaw was clenched and you were suddenly sure this was it, what you had with him was going to end right here and now.

Your hands trembled as you signed the simple word, index and middle fingers tapping twice against your thumb. _**No.**_ Your vision was blurring again and you realized only after you felt warmth spilling down your cheeks that you were crying.

You saw Geralt’s chest swell and then his shoulders droop as he breathed in deep and sighed hard and you shrunk back, feeling your shoulders hunch as you averted your gaze. If you didn’t look at him he couldn’t speak to you, couldn’t break things off. Maybe you could prolong the inevitable just a bit longer–

Strong fingers gripped your chin, gently but firmly tipping it up, coaxing you to meet that familiar amber gaze that you so adored. Your eyes were blurry with tears that he stroked away gently with his thumb, signing with one hand while gazing into your eyes. **_Someone better? What do you mean by that, Y/N?_**

_Someone who can talk to you. Someone who can tell you with actual words how much they love you, because you deserve to hear that, often and genuinely, and I don’t have vocabulary that encompasses everything that I feel for you. Someone that you can be with without all the complications and baggage that come with me. Someone uncomplicated that makes you happy, who won’t be a burden to you._

All these thoughts flashed through your mind as your hands hovered uncertainly in front of your chest, unwilling to actually say any of that. You felt more tears slip down your face and bit your lower lip hard to stop it from trembling, and you saw Geralt’s face soften. He made a ‘come here’ gesture with his hands and you petulantly shook your head, scrubbing your eyes with your fist.

**_Y/N. Dove. I could never want anyone else when I have you._ **

You studied Geralt, taking in the fluidity of his signs, the relaxed slope of his shoulders, the smoothed out lines around his eyes and the softened set of his mouth. No longer angry, but still, you struggled to believe him, not sure you could trust those words.

**_You always leave. Can you blame me for worrying?_** you asked.

_**I suppose I can’t.**_ He looked thoughtful. You reached out, patting his knee to get his attention and raising an eyebrow, silently inquiring as to what he was thinking about. _**What if we were married?**_

You stared at him, sure you misunderstood, or maybe he’d mixed up his signs, meant something else. **_Come again?_** you signed nervously.

There was a twinkle in his eyes now as he raised his hands, one with the palm facing up at chest level and bringing the other to cup around it as if he were clapping, and then pointing at his own chest, raising an eyebrow at you. _**Marry me?**_

Hope burst through you, warm and almost painful as it expanded through your chest. _**You’re serious?**_

_**Completely.**_ Geralt nodded firmly, studying you with a very faint smile playing around the corners of his lips.

You flung yourself forward, arms sliding around his neck as you kissed him. His lips parted under yours and you felt his chuckle rumble through your chest as he kissed you back, his fingers digging into your nape and his other hand on your waist pulling you onto his lap. You melted into him, basked in his touch and the warmth and relief it gave you after everything today. When you pulled away you nosed along his jaw, peppering kisses against his skin, saying _I love you_ with every gesture and knowing he would understand. You felt him shiver and smiled against his skin, pressing one last kiss to the soft skin just beneath the bolt of his jaw before pulling back to beam at him. He raised an eyebrow at you silently.

**_Yes. Of course, my answer is yes, I’ll marry you, Geralt of Rivia._ **

Suddenly he twisted, turning the both of you so that you ended up on your back beneath him in the sand, looking up at him with wide eyes. He grinned wolfishly down at you, sharp teeth gleaming in the firelight and eyes reflecting at you, making your heart race. **_I’ll buy you a ring in town tomorrow,_** he promised before leaning down, pressing against you as he kissed you again.

You sighed dreamily as you met his tongue with your own, fisting the back of his shirt to drag him close, the warm weight of him solid and reassuring and you basked in the knowledge that he was unequivocally yours. Geralt pulled back just enough to look at you with lidded eyes and you smiled up at him.

_**Don’t waste your hard-earned coin,**_ you told him seriously. _**I don’t need a ring, only you.**_

This time you had no trouble making out the words he murmured. _I love you, dove._

You slid your hand up under the front of his shirt, skimming over his stomach and chest to rest over his heart, feeling it beat slow and steady under your fingers. You pressed your fingers into his skin, looking up at him from under your lashes, and you knew he understood. 

You didn’t regret following him out, despite the danger it put both of you in and despite how it had upset him. Slipping your fingers into his hair as he leaned back down, capturing your lips for a slow and languid kiss, you knew that you would follow him anywhere so long as he was yours.


End file.
